Back to Kai
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: He had nightmares of her death. He had nightmares of not being able to save her. And this many years later, it shouldn't have mattered. But for some reason, it did.


**A/N: Here. Just to prove that Ben can never be alone. Slight errors have been fixed.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Was originally a songfic to "100 Years" by Five for Fighting. Lyrics were taken down.**

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_Back to Kai_

Ben found himself suddenly awake, mind jumping from place to place, trying to figure out how he knew this girl. This girl in his dream. He ran his fingers through his hair, questioning that summer five years ago when he had traveled across the country.

He let his forest green eyes close slowly and then rebuilt the image of her face. Long black hair that fell so long down her back that it looked just like Gwen's did now but maybe even longer. And it was a deeper color of ebony than even the blackness of night. Ben was puzzled. Who was she again? There was something in the back of his consciousness that rang a bell. Something about her.

There was faint recognition as he kept thinking over her features. Dark skin, eyes the color of pure amber. There was just something about her that Ben realized he needed to recognize. Maybe she was something important to him. Faint memories. A wolf. The Navajo werewolf. BENWOLF! It finally struck him.

Kai. Kai from the Navajo people. Her deeply tanned skin. Her strong spirit and beauty. Her dark hair. Kai Greene.

How had he forgotten her? Ben shook his head. He had to clear his thoughts for a few seconds at least. His mind had been plagued by a nightmare of her death in a flood of vicious, merciless red lava. And something in his mind was jogged of thoughts from the dream the night before. Her throat torn out by the Yee Naaldlooshii, blood dripping everywhere.

He had to look at his hands and wonder which wolf had done that. Him or the real Yee Naaldlooshii. The real werewolf. Ben put his head between his knees to stop the world from spinning. There was a slight problem of him being dizzy from the blood and then he had to breathe again. Just breathe.

It had been five years since he'd seen Kai. Five years. Ben made sure he was alright before laying back down. He was sick now. He couldn't believe that Kai, his first crush, had escaped his mind. He had deemed that he loved her in only a day of knowing Kai. And Ben just let his head fall back down onto the pillow. It only made the nausea more intense.

He reached to the desk that sat right next to his bed and let his fingers wander until they crossed the cool metal of his green phone. There was silence until he clicked speed dial for his grandfather. Max would know. Max always knew what to do.

Ben pressed the phone to his ear, hearing the gentle ring. His vision was still blurry and it felt like he was going to be sick any second. The darkness enveloped his room and he felt like this night couldn't get any worse. Something in his head was singing with a thought of Kai being with him at this time of the night, just laying beside him, her warm tanned skin close to his body so that he could just reach over and stroke her ebony hair in this thing that everyone called night.

"Ben?" came his grandfather's voice. "Is something wrong? It's the middle of the night."

Eyes flicking over to the clock that sat upon his dresser on the other side of the room, Ben could clearly make out the time: 2 o' clock A.M. "Nothing's really wrong, Grandpa," Ben said. He could hear his own voice shaking and it felt like he was going to pass out. "But I was just wondering what happened to Kai."

"Kai?"

The teenager had to drink in some more air. It was as if the room was closing in on him. "Kai Greene. From the Navajo reservation. Five years ago. Remember?"

Silence came from the other side of the phone. "Ben, why do you want to know about her? You two hardly knew each other for more than two days." Max seemed to be hiding something. Something important.

"I just… I just want to know, Grandpa," Ben said. Again, he stuck his head between his knees and the spinning slowed down; his stomach stopped churning for the moment. Then Ben realized it. "What happened to her?"

"Ben, just don't start overreacting or anything-"

"What happened?" came a feral snarl from Ben, one hand running through his hair as he tried to calm himself. Why had his defensive side kicked in so suddenly? It was as if it was running on instinct now instead of on his thoughts.

"Kai went missing three days ago. Her stuff was gone and there was no sign of where she went."

Ben took the phone and threw it across the room and watched it slam into the wall, the screen cracking and then some parts of it shattering into a few small pieces. He knew he was going to be sick now. Maybe he had gone out sleep fighting like Kevin had suggested when Albedo showed up. Maybe he had gone out and killed her and hid the body somewhere. That would explain his dream from the night before. But he'd woken up in bed…

There was silence and he had to get up off his bed. Ben couldn't stand this. He just thought of her now and when she was in danger, he wasn't there. Guilt tugged on his heart and he let his feet touch the ground. Standing up, the brunette reached for a chair to keep his balance. He was definitely off tonight.

Then without another thought, Ben found his thoughts again, instinct pushed aside. He reached for the Omnitrix and waited for its bright green light illuminate the room. As soon as it did, he pushed down on it and let his body transform into Jetray before snapping out my arms and jumping straight through the window, not even bothering to open it. The glass shattered around him and pierced his leathery skin, but he didn't stop. Ben had to find her. He was compelled to find her.

He was over the desert two days later. He hadn't stopped or even thought about it. The Omnitrix always beeped when Kevin or Gwen called but Ben couldn't stop. He had to find her. He had to find Kai.

What drove Ben to this, he had no idea. He just wanted to find her. He wanted to see her pretty face again and to be able to hold her hand once again. And maybe if he was lucky, he could see another traditional dance from her like he had when Ben had first seen her.

Then the purple lightning rained down from the heavens. The sky opened up and tears from the suddenly blackened clouds suddenly crashed down to the ground. He remembered that day as if it had been yesterday. Five years hadn't blocked his strong feelings for her. Or his memories.

There was a lone form, walking, slow as a wounded deer trying to trek through the forest. Ben dropped low, circling as only a vulture would in his Jetray form. Then he let himself fall within a few feet of the dirt before changing back to a teenage boy, feet thudding against the ground as he landed, ankle nearly twisting the wrong way as he crashed to the desert floor. Green eyes darting forward, he saw the figure of a lithe young woman. A grin crossed his dry, cracked lips. "Kai," he breathed.

Her hair was still as dark as night, the sunlight glinting off of it so it cast a radiant glow of something bluish around her. Skin was still caramel colored. She was still as beautiful as ever. "Ben," she said with the faintest of smiles crossing her tired looking face, expression suddenly light.

He managed to get to his feet and stagger towards her. When he was close enough, Ben threw his arms around her and let the Navajo girl's scent fill his senses, sandy and of dirt and desert herbs. "Kai," he breathed again. He couldn't help but enjoy this moment when he was finally able to see her one more time.

"Why did you come all this way to find me?" she asked, voice soft, but not quite shocked as her hands locked together behind his neck and his hands were around her waist, firm and strong while holding her tight.

"Because I needed to."

Ben let himself enjoy this moment, this one extra chance he had with Kai. He let a brief kiss touch her dusty cheek, trying to show her who was beneath the wolf that she once knew.

Kai just took a deep breath and let herself melt into him. "I'm sorry that you came all this way, Ben. I'm sorry for this."

"Don't be." He felt a shiver running down his spine.

"I'm glad it was you who came to find me," she said softly, ebony hair caught with the desert winds. "I've missed you all these years."

"Me too."

And it was like the last two pieces of the universe finally clicked together.

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**A/N: Aw. They're still cute together. I rewatched the episode with her in it while I wrote this. Just compelled to think of Kai as everyone else has neglected her. Don't forget about the lil' review button!**

**~Sky**


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